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Software iSCSI and IPv6 Support

A little while ago, I researched a support statement regarding Software iSCSI & IPsec. After digging around a bit, I found out that the answer was no, it is not supported since we have not yet done a complete set of tests on this combination of products/features.

However, in the course of my research, I came across some conflicting support statements about Software iSCSI & IPv6.

KB article 1021769 – VMware vSphere ESX/ESXi 4.1 supports IPv6 for use with the Service Console and VMkernel management interfaces, and is compatible with Software iSCSI, vMotion, High Availability (HA) and Fault Tolerance (FT). Note: IPv6 is not supported for a dependent hardware iSCSI adapter or with TCP Checksum Offload.

And in the vSphere 5.1 Storage Guide, page 78, it states that ESXi does not support IPv6 with software iSCSI and dependent hardware iSCSI.

It appears we went from experimental, to supported to not supported. Really?

After some research in-house, it appears that the statement in KB 1021769 is incorrect. It is true that there was experimental support for Software iSCSI and IPv6 through versions 4.0, 4.1 and 5.0, but experimental support was dropped in 5.1. There is now no support for Software iSCSI with IPv6 in 5.1. But if you want to use IPv6 with Software iSCSI, you can do so at your own risk. All the bits are there, it is just not currently supported. I will work on getting the KB article corrected.

On the topic of Software iSCSI, IPv6 and IPsec, is there a real demand for interoperability between these products and features? I’d like to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment.